Tag Archives: fragile x

This is one of those days that I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed and need to crawl back into bed. Luckily my students are sick, so I am off the hook, so to speak. I don’t feel well myself – in addition to pregnancy fatigue I must be fighting some version of the flu that is going around. I’ve had chills, a migraine, dizziness, and shortness of breath.

Gretchen of Birth Matters posted an important notice from the American Association of Birth Centers. The short of the long of it is that the AABC will not be conducting a follow-up study on VBAC in birth centers. Most AABC accredited birth centers do not allow VBACs. VBACs are evidently not considered to be “high risk” or “low risk”. Rather, we’re an insignificant subset who is someone else’s problem. Instead of conducting a study to correct the faulty conclusions of the previous study (Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2004), they are focusing on maintaining a credible visage for normal birth. (CYA much?)

My sister-in-law has been diagnosed with carrying the “fragile x” gene. As far as I know, the genetic testing took place without informed consent. I resent that my SIL has to spend her entire pregnancy worrying about her future child’s mental and physical well-being. She is only 9 weeks pregnant, so this is a big burden to bear for such a long time. Let’s get back to the “rub”. She did not request genetic testing and was not told that genetic testing was part of the OB’s standard blood work-up. She and my BIL are the picture of health, so there would have been no obvious need for genetic testing. This is a huge problem in a number of ways, and this OB should be hunted down and burned at the stake for what she has done.